"A Better You" Your 7 days program to self-improvement

Is your self-esteem ,on the rocky side.Here is some helpful hints to improve,the better you in seven days.

I've lost count of how many times I've read and heard of celebrity marriages failing almost before the ice sculpture melts. Not that I care, (and personally I don't), it is unfortunate that we often see movie and TV stars as flawless people, living the fairytale life of riches and glamor. I suppose we all have to stop sticking our heads in the clouds and face reality or you will have a guardian appointed. This idol worship seems to get more serious with every generation. Too bad! It will probably not serve the worshipers well.

There are many ways to lose your sense of self-esteem or self-worth despite how trivial it could get. But whatever happens, we should all try not to lose our own sense of self. You must first love yourself before you can truly love anyone. Compare yourself to yourself and not some fake politician, drug snorting star, drunk gang leader, etc. There are many bad examples to be seen every day on television or on the streets. What's with this 'pants on the ground.' Why is it good to have "street cred?" It is easier to fall in with the negative crowd and take shots at those who are trying to make a positive difference in our life today. You need to plan on your future self, not just what is happening now.

So what does it take to be a cut above the rest? Here are some of the things you can think and improve on that should be enough for a week.

1. Know your purpose
Are you wandering through life with little direction - hoping that happiness, joy, health and prosperity by chance will come to you? Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you to your true north every time.

This may seem tricky at first when you see self to be in a tight or even dead end. But there's always that little loophole to turn things around and you can make a big difference to yourself.

2. Know your values
What do you value most? Make a list of your top 5 values. Some examples are security, freedom, family, spiritual development, learning. As you set your goals for 2011 - check your goals against your values. If the goal doesn't align with any of your top five values - you may want to reconsider it or revise it. Set your goals which are reachable and bring you satisfaction.

The number shouldn't discourage you, instead it should motivate you to do more than you can ever dreamed of.

3. Know your needs
Unmet needs can keep you from living authentically. Take care of yourself. Do you have a need to be acknowledged, to be right, to be in control, to be loved? There are so many people who lived their lives without realizing their dreams and most of them end up being stressed or even depressed for that matter. List your top four needs and get them met before it's too late! Make every effort to avoid reaching your zen without pills or drugs. That is what I call self help and not depend on other people to look after you.

4. Know your passions
You know who you are and what you truly enjoy in life. Obstacles like doubt and lack of enthusiasm will only hinder you, but will not derail your chance to become the person you ought to be. Doubt and a lack of enthusiasm will also cause you to develop a very bitter attitude. Express yourself and honor the people who have inspired you to become the very person you wanted to be and be happy about it. Fake it until you make it.

5. Live from the inside out
Increase your awareness of your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence. Commune with nature. Breathe deeply to quiet your distracted mind. For most of us city slickers it's hard to even find the peace and quiet we want even in our own home. In my case I often just sit in a dimly lit room and play some classical music. There's sound, yes, but music does soothe the savage beast.

6. Honor your strengths
What are your positive traits? What special talents do you have? List three - if you get stuck, ask those closest to you to help identify these. Are you imaginative, witty, good with your hands? Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths. You can increase your self-confidence when you can share what you know to others. If you discover that you are lacking in traits which you can share, there are many self-improvement courses or books which might give you the direction you seek.

7. Serve others
When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being. When you are true to who you are, living your purpose and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with others -your spirit - your essence. The rewards for sharing your gift with those close to you is indeed rewarding, much more if it were to be the eyes of a stranger who can appreciate what you have done to them.

Self-improvement is indeed one type of work that is worth it. It shouldn't always be within the confines of an office building, or maybe in the four corners of your own room. The difference lies within ourselves and how much we want to change for the better.

Plan ahead and cause joy.
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Cordorba House! A Good Or Evil Concept?

Here are two opposing points of view and I believe that both sides should be known and heard. I personally thought it was very strange that Mayor Bloomberg and the NYC zoning board as well as the Historical Agency would unanimously approve this new building unless there was more to the plan than we have been getting in the media. Food for thought?


Many of us are supporters of Newt Gingrich and we will campaign for him should he decide to run as the next president of the United States. On July 21, 2k10, Newt wrote the following:

"There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over. The proposed "Cordoba House" overlooking the World Trade Center site – where a group of jihadists killed over 3000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks - is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites. For example, most of them don’t understand that “Cordoba House” is a deliberately insulting term. It refers to Cordoba, Spain – the capital of Muslim conquerors who symbolized their victory over the Christian Spaniards by transforming a church there into the world’s third-largest mosque complex. “Cordoba,” in Islamic symbolic terms, means Islamic rule in the West. Today, some of the Mosque’s backers insist this term is being used to "symbolize interfaith cooperation" when, in fact, every Islamist in the world recognizes Cordoba as a symbol of Islamic conquest. It is a sign of their contempt for Americans and their confidence in our historic ignorance that they would deliberately insult us this way. Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for "religious toleration" are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca. And they lecture us about tolerance. If the people behind the Cordoba House were serious about religious toleration, they would be imploring the Saudis, as fellow Muslims, to immediately open up Mecca to all and immediately announce their intention to allow non-Muslim houses of worship in the Kingdom. They should be asked by the news media if they would be willing to lead such a campaign. We have not been able to rebuild the World Trade Center in nine years. Now we are being told a 13 story, $100 million megamosque will be built within a year overlooking the site of the most devastating surprise attack in American history. Finally where is the money coming from? The people behind the Cordoba House refuse to reveal all their funding sources. America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization. Sadly, too many of our elites are the willing apologists for those who would destroy them if they could. No mosque. No self deception. No surrender. The time to take a stand is now - at this site on this issue." The above comment was sent out by e-mail and I forwarded it to a friend of mine who lives in Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia. He had the following critique on Newt's statement: "Frank, I am disappointed that you forwarded this to me and disappointed with Newt that he wrote it. I am a little closer to this situation than most people. The airplane that hit the second tower went into the building about 10 stories below my daughter’s desk. Fortunately, she was running 15 minutes late that morning and wasn’t in or below the tower when it was hit. She knew people who died. She watched people she didn’t know jump to their deaths rather than die in the fire. She and her husband had to leave their apartment 3 blocks from the WTC for ten days because the health department forced them out of the health hazard area. They knew some orthodox Jews who lived in northern Manhattan and they walked to their home and were graciously taken in. They have a daughter now and they live three blocks from Ground Zero and five blocks from the site of the new community center/mosque. My daughter and her husband strongly support the community center/mosque project. (No, they are not Muslims but they are good Americans.) The organizers of this community center/mosque are not fearsome jihadists, they are Sufi Muslims – if you don’t know what Sufis are like, think “whirling dervishes” or look up Sufi. I talked to my daughter last night. (We call her every September 11 to let her know that we are so grateful that she is still alive.) She told me the Muslim planners of the community center plan a small prayer room* among a lot of other things like meeting rooms and a swimming pool. Having little experience with urban community centers, the Muslim planners worked with local Jews who already operate community centers in the area so they could plan their new center to be as useful as possible to the greater community. The facility will apparently serve the same basic function that Peachtree Pres. serves for our area – my wife goes there to use their gym; I go there to attend civic meetings – like many who go there, we are not Presbyterians. Likewise, the Manhattan center won’t cater only to Muslims – the area around Ground Zero is very multicultural, so a mosque will fit right in with everything else. In fact, I think there is already a real mosque five blocks from Ground Zero. And, incidentally, there were Islamic prayer rooms in the WTC which were destroyed by the terrorists. I believe that if some Americans intimidate the organizers of this community center/mosque and force them to relocate it elsewhere, little else could make the terrorists happier because America will be tarnishing its own ideals. If we turn against our Constitution (or bend the protections it guarantees just a little), that would be a far greater insult to the memory of the 911 victims than any building. We need to stay strong and honorable in spite of what the terrorists do to us. If Saudi Arabia denies some citizens their basic human rights, that is hardly a justification for us to do likewise to some of our citizens. We are America. We stand for something that hopefully the Saudis will understand sooner rather than later." “a neighbor in Atlanta’s Buckhead community” I added the picture. franklively.124online.com

Lame Ducks Will Still Step On Your Toes

This post was borrowed from my blogging friend, Michael Connelly. (www.michaelconnelly.viviti.com) I give him full credit for the research required to discover what is on the agenda for our representatives when they return from wherever to D.C. following their recess. Many of them are already calling the dogs and putting water on the camp fire because they know the party is over. However, they, even the 'lame ducks', can still impact your life, liberty and your joy before they leave and collect their pensions as having been your servant. Please read and act. I will take responsibility for the pictures.

“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe, while the legislature is in session.” This is a quote that has been attributed to everyone from Daniel Webster to Mark Twain, but regardless of who first said it, the words have never been more applicable than they are today. The 111^th Congress is about to return from recess, and the year of “tax and spend” will get underway once again.

It is amazing that the lemmings in Congress seem to be preparing to run off the cliff and drown in the sea by sacrificing their seats in the upcoming election in order to continue to pass the Socialist agenda of President Obama. Americans need to be aware of what will be attempted in the next few months prior to the election and even after that in a lame duck session of Congress.

Much of this is being kept under the radar by the Obama administration in the hope that American citizens will not know until the deed is done that they are being savaged even more by their government. So here is what the Congress will have before it in the next few weeks.

1. A new stimulus package to add another $50 billion dollars to the deficit that is already the largest in history. This money is supposed to be used for building and repairing infrastructure such as highways, railroads, etc. It is also supposed to stimulate the economy and create jobs. However, since under the first massive stimulus package unemployment has actually gotten higher, and the economic recovery has ground to a halt, there is no reason that this bill would do anything but increase the deficit.

In reality, it is not really meant to help the economy. Instead, most of the jobs that would be created would go to members of unions that support the liberals in Congress. This is an unconstitutional use of taxpayer funds to bribe the unions into staying with Obama and the liberals in the upcoming election.

2. The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year and that is exactly what Obama wants. If the tax cuts are not renewed it will result in the most massive tax increase in American history. It is rumored that Obama is considering extending the cuts for those making under $250,000 per year so that supposedly it is only the “rich” that will be taxed. The truth is that the vast majority of people in this country that make over that amount are small business owners that create most of the jobs.

There is already enough uncertainly among small business owners. Large tax increases on them will cause them to stop creating new jobs, and in some cases even go out of business. Unemployment will get even higher.

3. Another new tax idea being floated by the Obama White House is the so-called “transaction tax.” This tax will initially be a 1% tax on any transactions you make at any financial institutions such as banks and credit unions. If you make a deposit or withdrawal, move money from one account to another, or even take cash from an ATM you will have to pay 1% of each amount to the Federal government. Think about how many such transactions you make a month and you can see how quickly this amount can add up.

4. Probably the most dangerous action being considered is a cancelling of the tax credit given to American businesses for taxes they pay to foreign governments. Since the United States already has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world, this tax credit is one of the few things that keeps our businesses competitive with businesses in the rest of the world. Now Obama wants to end that. The repeal of this tax credit will be an enormous blow to American businesses while greatly benefiting some of our enemies like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. This is because the oil companies will be among those feeling the greatest impact. Therefore foreign oil companies will have a competitive edge.

Energy prices in this country will increase across the board with American families probably paying an average of $1500 more per year for things like gasoline and home heating oil. At the same time our dependence on foreign oil will increase even more.

5. Finally, there is going to be another major push in the Senate to pass the Disclose Act in order to limit the rights of businesses and independent conservative organizations to participate and influence the upcoming elections.

Every freedom loving American needs to immediately contact their Senators and Representatives and demand that there be no more laws passed in this session of Congress increasing spending or creating new taxes, that Congress extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone, and that the Senate defeat the “Disclose Act.” In other words, we need to tell these people to leave “our life, liberty, and property” alone.

Michael Connelly

www.michaelconnelly.viviti.com

mrobertc@hotmail.com

franklively.124online.com

Are You Planning Financially For Your Retirement?

A Financial Planner may be your Best Gift to Yourself!

There are many ways in which you can plan for your financial retirement. Do not wait any longer! You cannot live on Social Security or a meager pension that you may lose at any moment. The first step in making the right moves is always the step that involves actually creating a plan of action that you can follow as a family. Many people focus too much on the now or too much on the later and have a great deal of difficulty when it comes to creating a happy medium for savings and investing.

Throughout our lives we will have both long and short-term goals that need to be assessed, addressed, and often revisited. Whether you need to find a way to pay for your children to attend college, home improvement projects, or a method for saving for your retirement you can find information and assistance for all these things and so much more if you seek the services of a qualified financial advisor.

A good financial advisor will help you find that balance that so many people and families lack. He or she will also help you assess your means in comparison with your long and short-term needs in order to see where your funds would experience the greatest return in order to suit your specific needs with minimal risk. It is important to remember that going with a financial planner or advisor does not eliminate the risks that are an integral part of investing but it does help you learn to better calculate those risks.

Investing is a risky business. Learning how to weigh the odds and go for the prize is the best way to earn the biggest possible return on your investment no matter how modest your investment may be. We are all starting from different means, isn't it amazing to know that we could all end up with very similar abilities when all is said and done and we are living out our 'golden years'?

Good financial planning is the key to success when it concerns your financial retirement. With so few people around the world adequately prepared to retire it is great to know that there are options and assistance that is available to help you get started on your retirement no matter how late in the game it is. Even better is the knowledge that limits are lifted a little once you reach the age of 50 and retirement is much more eminent. This allows those who got a late start on their retirement planning or who have hit a speed bump or two along the way the opportunity to 'catch up' on their investing and work up to the place they need to be in order to establish a more comfortable retirement for themselves and those they love.

401 (k) plans offer some of the best retirement benefits your money can buy at the moment. They certainly allow you to make the maximum possible investment for your money. If you aren't taking your company up on their offer to match your investment in a 401(k) then you should seriously rethink that thought. Seriously, you're throwing away free money.

When it comes to the murky water of retirement investing it helps to have a guide to get you through. Utilizing the services of a financial planner may be the best move you've ever made in your life when it comes to the financial health of your family and your retirement.

I have been rich and I have been poor and believe me, rich is better and much easier. We used a financial planner to put us into some good financial investments and he did. I didn't always understand it, but it seemed to work out to our benefit. The investing I did on my own, more often than not, turned out bad. I lost many thousands of dollars to a business partner Mr. L-----, and, I thought, friend. He decided to join an equally dishonest retired military colonial and they got better and bigger financing so they left me and the other investors hanging and unable to complete the program. I didn't know Mr. L----- was such a liar until I caught him in the truth one day. He still wonders why his wife divorced him!

It was hard for me to believe that a person would do such a thing after I had bailed him out of jail; paid child support for him to keep him out of jail on several occasions; paid to put groceries in his house when he was without and had a son coming home from the hospital; etc., etc., etc., I do not wish him ill, but it was very hard to see several thousands of dollars of investment vanish and then to have him deny that I had loaned him any money for his personal needs. I know God is the Owner of vengeance, but I do hope He will allow me to be an instrument of it.

My financial planner would have advised against me getting involved with anyone like Mr. L-----. A person without morals probably doesn't have any honest codes, but if does, he believes "you need to walk in another man's shoes before you judge him." That way, he is a mile away and he has the shoes.

I recommend that you immediately get involved in this retirement plan. This is a plan that you can control with safety measures in place to insure that if you continue each month to stay active, you will be able to retire wealthy within 24 months.

Cause Joy!